Grs wieetingssss MsChipssssss….and TOD….
as everyone else i have been deeply moved by the recent violent events…i am so proud of our President (sometimes the word proud does not see adequate to decribe how i feel about PBO)…

i am away with my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter…so sometimes i cannot check into the diary…on those ocassions that i cannot i really do miss it…

The United States is not the only country to have experienced a national reckoning following a mass shooting. Australia, Scotland, Finland and other countries provide important lessons in how to react to a gun-related massacre.

AUSTRALIA

Event: In 1996, a gunman killed 35 people and wounded 21 more at the seaside tourist town of Port Arthur, Tasmania in the worst mass murder in Australian history. The 28-year-old killer, Martin Bryant, used a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a military-grade L1A1 self-loading rifle that he bought from a dealer without a required gun license.

Reaction: Only 12 days later, the newly elected conservative prime minister John Howard announced the government would enact sweeping gun-control laws. The laws received bipartisan support from political leaders and surveys showed up to 90 percent of an outraged public supported gun control following the massacre. The policies included a gun buyback program, a 28-day waiting period for gun purchases, a ban on semi-automatic and automatic rifles and shotguns, ending private sales, requirements that firearms be individually registered to the owner and that gun owners present a genuine reason (not including self-defense) for purchasing a gun.

Result: The mandatory gun buyback program resulted in the removal and destruction of more than 700,000 firearms within two years (the equivalent of 40 million U.S. guns). The gun homicide rate fell by 59 percent and the gun suicide rate fell by 65 percent in the decade after the laws were passed. Also, gun-related robberies dropped and there was no increase in home invasions. Sixteen years later, Australia’s gun homicide rate is 30 times lower than the U.S. and there have been no more massacres.

Christmas gift from my boss (who is also a dear friend) : “I know you’ve read these already, but there’s nothing like hearing his voice!” [Gift: Audiobooks of Dreams of My Father and the Audacity of Hope] Gawd she knows me so well.

Barack Obama doesn’t cry in public often. It’s happened just four times since people started paying attention. The first was in North Carolina, the night before polls closed in 2008, when he told a crowd that his grandmother — “a quiet hero” — had just died; the second was four years later, almost to the day, at his last-ever campaign rally on a cold night in Iowa, the state where it all began; and the third was two days later, at campaign headquarters in Chicago, as he thanked his staff and told them that his work “had come full circle.”
The fourth time Obama let America see him cry was Dec. 14, in the White House briefing room, at 3:15 p.m. And this time, Obama’s tears weren’t about him or his grandmother or his winning campaign — he cried instead for 20 children and 6 adults who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, at the hand of a killer with a gun.
But everything Obama would say that afternoon — and everything he would say that Sunday in Newtown — would be cast through the lens of the raw emotion he felt as a father. Any vow to the promised “meaningful action” would be taken whilst speaking, as he said Friday, “as a parent.” It was a role Michelle Obama had played, mostly in private, six months earlier, during a visit to Aurora that she had all but insisted on taking.

The First Lady was coming to Colorado the next week for campaign events and wanted to stop by the hospital to meet with and thank staff members for their service during the shooting. The Medical Center of Aurora had treated 18 patients in total, although only three were still checked in by August. “We weren’t allowed to tell anybody,” remembers Linda Kanamine, the hospital vice president who took the call. “Her staff said she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and didn’t want to tell the press — it had to stay secret or it might not happen at all.”
In a conference room near the hospital cafeteria, about 50 staffers — ER nurses, doctors, techs, everyone — lined up around the room. The First Lady started at the door and walked around the entire circle. Everybody got a hug.
“There was a lot of emotion from the staff. There were some tears,” said Cynthia Latney, head of the nursing staff at the hospital. It was Latney’s job to walk around the room with Michelle and introduce her to each employee. There was one who had happened to be in the theater at the time of the shooting, and when his turn came to meet the First Lady, “they were both very emotional,” said Latney. She just hugged him and said, ‘You make sure that you get some help and take care of yourself.’’ Before she left, the First Lady met with the three victims still under the hospital’s care, spending about 10 minutes with each. One young man, still bed-bound in intensive care, would never be able to walk again. Escorted by Latney, Mrs. Obama walked into the room where his family was waiting. Flowers and teddy bears and pictures of classmates lined the walls. “I’m so sorry this tragedy happened,” she said to him. The young man nodded his head — he couldn’t talk, but he could listen.

“She walked into the room and was there immediately as a mom,” said Latney. “She stood there with his mother and held their hands and kissed him on the forehead.”

When Michelle Obama left the hospital, the mayor and governor and police chief were waiting for a handshake and a photo op. Michelle Obama wouldn’t stay for more than three minutes before leaving for Denver for a campaign event at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where she would not mention the visit to Aurora in great detail. Later, on Aug. 23, she sent a personal letter to Latney letting her know that “the country [was] eternally grateful” for the work of the hospital staff in Aurora.

Michelle Obama went to Aurora as a mother; President Obama spoke as a father in Newtown on Sunday, Dec. 16.

Air Force One touched down at Bradley Air Force base just before 4 p.m., and Obama spent about three hours meeting with Sandy Hook survivors and families, before delivering a speech that — as the White House pooler noted dutifully — Obama had authored himself, with help only on edits from speechwriter Cody Keenan.

It was a more solemn crowd this time than the one that greeted him in Tucson. No cheering university students. The room was silent, save for the sound of a baby crying, or a sob from the audience. Obama wore a black suit and a dark gray tie. He read from paper instead of a teleprompter. He told the audience that this would be the nation’s “fourth time” hugging survivors and consoling victims’ families during his presidency.

UT, the day Dorothy, I don’t remember her last name, but she was one of the Civil Rights pioneers…..the day they had her memorial in DC and pres Obama was visibly shading tears. Mrs. Obama was right next to him. I thought that death or service reminded the president of his grandmother’s death. This was in 2009 or 2010.

I thought he also cried when he went to Arizona and spoke to the citzens after Gabby Giffords was shot? I thought he cried during at memorial, I know Michelle Obama was crying especially when he spoke of Gabby opening her eyes when her fellow representatives were there and speaking of little Cristina Greene who died that day.

It reminds me of my fifth graders who tend to get side tracked with stuff like asking about history in English class or asking whether they can use the bathroom when I am in the middle of explaining important grammar to them. But then again…my fifth graders are 10 or 11 year olds…

these are good questions and imo gives PBO the platform to draw the very stark comparisons between him and Boehner’s goals for the country. He is laying it on the line and covering ground on the negotiations that he would not otherwise have at his disposal to do without seeming to pick a fight. Now, it’s in the context of answering the question. He is able to identify and call them out by name on their Boehnerheadness. Good for the press in drawing out what has to be said. You go Prez!!!

Have a busy day of Holiday crafting ahead, but wanted to stop by and share something with everyone. I sent this out to my “action team” fomrerly OFA, and felt it applied to everyone here as well.

I just finished watching the President’s speech at Newtown. As I listened to his remarks I was so grateful that he is our President. This is a tragedy that no President should have to bear. However it has fallen on him to comfort the community and the nation. There is no one who could have done it with more sincerity, eloquence, and courage.

Thank you for making that possible. We did that.

We made phone calls, entered data, donated food, sent $$, posted on Facebook, tweeted, emailed and held our ground with family and friends. We made it possible for this kind, compassionate and brilliant man to lead our nation onto a path where gun control and mental illness can be addressed in a rational manner.

Each time the President rises to handle a crisis, or celebrate a victory – remember we are with him. Our hard work stands beside him at the podium, our faith in the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things is rewarded with each law that is signed.

Thank God Time Mag did the right thing in choosing President Obama as Person of the Year. I hope it helps the haters see him in real terms and diminishes their opposition. Boehner and McConnell should just throw in the towel and implement the agenda WE voted for, and they should do it now so the Obamas can have the restorative vacation they deserve and the vast majority of us don’t see our taxes go up in 2013 due to the sequester.

I see the value in his being able to answer fiscal cliff questions, when else would he do it? should he let Boenhead be out there giving his one-sided view of the negotiations? It would be nice if PBO had surrogates to answer these questions, but he’s his best advocate. I don’t mind these questions at all. sure the conference was held to discuss gun control, but there’s not much else he can say about it than he already has until the committee comes back with their action items. So as i stated upthread. this is a great forum for getting his views out and he’s doing a better than great job. The MSM unwittingly, or unknowingly gave him a good plaform.

Disagree with you. They weren’t asking intelligent questions regarding the fiscal cliff. He spent 8 minutes answering a fiscal cliff question. 8 MINUTES and the second question is about the fiscal cliff? How foolish does one have to be to not understand his answer that he/she basically asks the same question again? Then the 3rd and 4th question was about the fiscal cliff. Give me a freaking break. The white house handlers had to ask the press to ask questions about Newtown and gun safety measures. Considering the president had just cited a long list of cops, women, patients, and innocent children who had died since Friday due to gun violence, this was a disgrace. Then Jake Tapper ends the presser with a foolish question to Pres. Obama.

Our press corps shouldn’t be lauded for anything. They are a disgusting, vile, bottom of the barrel group.

UT, I am with you about the total idiocy of the WH press corp. Surely, with murdered Children in Newtown, CT still being laid to rest, why didn’t the Press focus on the horror of gun violence in America. It’s not as if they’ve not been asking the same questions to the Press Secretary about the so called “fiscal cliff.”

I don’t see anything in my reply that lauds anybody. Tapper was disrespectful as he always is. I still say that I’m glad that PBO got the chance to put his fiscal plan out there. He answered as he always does, thoroughly, thoughtfully, and plainly. He did what I personally thought was take advantage of the situation that the press unwittingly gave him to counter Boner out there grandstanding. That the press chose that forum to ask the questions is a reflection on them. But we already know their capacity to do the right thing. Their behavior doesn’t upset me. So good we got about 15 minutes of uninterrupted information on how PBO plans to negotiate our economic well being. Had the press asked him about the gun issue as was expected, then PBO would have answered those as well. His answers would have been what we could assume would have been that he will act quickly on the recommendations of the VP’s task force. Yes, terrible tragedy has put the focus on a subject long overdue, imo. However, until we hear what the task force comes up with, I don’t know what could have been added, that would have been more informative than PBO’s delivery of how he plans to lead the country. That is the issue of the day and unfortunately, even as horrible as the shootings were, we still need to know the stark differences between the two negotiators. Folks who don’t follow this daily like you and I can draw the comparisons. so yes, the press is foolish, that’s not new. It was due to their infinite lack of wisdom that they gave PBO a platform to make his case. I think that for you to infer that I lauded their behavior, is a trick out of the playbook of those we object to on this blog.

Jake Tapper is a petty, spiteful, envious, self-serving, self-important, bitter narcissist, desperate for relevance and consumed by delusions of grandeur that fuel his rabid need to rank and to be important and acknowledged…

He also suffers from that same warped racial mindset that afflicts many insecure white men like Chuck Todd, Ed Henry, Dana Milbank, Chris Cilliza, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Bloomberg, Sean Hannity, Ed Rendell and to a great extent, Chris Matthews, John Stewart, Ezra Klein etc…

In spite of the fact that a decent number of white Americans strongly supported and voted for President Obama, there is still this sense that the apple cart that is the assumed and acceptable structure of how things ought to be in America, has been toppled by this President…

This societal mindset that has seen unremarkable and mostly mediocre men like Chuck Todd, Jake Tapper, Ed Henry, Dana Milbank, Chris Cilliza Bill O’Reilly etc. assume and retain positions they wouldn’t possibly be considered for in a fair and equal society…

In what world would an unremarkable man with just a high school diploma and very little else, be made head of the news division at a major news network…And yet that is what Chuck Todd is…

Jake Tapper, Ed Henry, Chuck Todd and the lot of them feel threatened by not just the superior man and President Barack Obama is, but the very concept and presence of this President in their irrational minds, completely threatens the entire societal structure that has greatly aided and benefitted these small, petty, mediocre stenographers and gossip mongers masquerading as journalists…

There is something almost disturbingly psychotic and deeply personal and malicious in the way Jake tapper engages and reports on this President…

A common thread now observed in the attitudes of several previously thought to be rational men…

Jake’s behavior during the first briefing with Jay Carney after the President was re-elected was very disturbing…

He physically trembled with rage as he asked Jay Carney if the President had ‘contempt’ for the WHPC…

Talk about projection…

Jake tapper and his ilk revel in their disdain of this President and report what they think is bad news for the President with much glee, and are practically in mourning when there is any good news for the President and by extension, the American people…

They walk around with such huge chips on their shoulders which is only heightened every time they interact with the President…

Like silly juveniles, they try to bring President Obama down to their level with their pathetic and embarrassing displays of stupidity…

For so long their deep inferioriy complexes and delicate egos were carefully hidden behind a societal structure that mostly undeservedly bestowed a sense of superiority, entitlement and top shelf ranking to the Jake tapper’s of the world…

The ascent of President Obama has them all coming unglued at the seams and unable to contain their spoiled, tantrum-throwing, entitled, egotistic little butts…

I don’t think so. Not after PBO schooled his ass, and he got humiliated on Twitter. Now he’s getting praise from Rush Limbaugh – one of the least respected individuals in circles outside of the rabid lunatic Right wing. Karma is paying a visit to Mr. Tapper – and that’s just the beginning.

Me too. I came here right after accidentally catching him saying,”Where have you been?” I wish someone could gather his own comments especially if they were supporting the gun lobbyists and throw it back at him saying,”Where have you been, Jake?” He needs a put down big time. The Presidents reply was perfect. We need some sort of Jake commupance though. Bob, a twitter perhaps? I turned the tv off when Andrea Mitchell was featuring Jake’s question.

That Looser got it handed to him by PBO and that was the last question/answer of the press conference too. The INSOLENCE of these so-called journalists literally takes my breath away. Who do they think they are talking to when they ask him stuff like “Where have you been??” What the He_l!!! Just UNBELIEVABLE the way they think they can talk to the President of the USA!!

There should be some sort of way the President could exclude the WH press that is disrespectful to him. I am talking not allowing those reporters in the pressroom anymore. Should we write ABC about their needing to replace Jake with a more respectful reporter. Questions can be asked in a more respectful tone. If I were PBO and could not exclude JT I would never call on him again, if that is even possible.

That was how Sam Donaldson was seen by people during Reagan and Clinton. Their questions do not bother me. What bothers me today, is the inconsistency when they speak with those in the TBGOPers lala land.

“Where Have you been?”
That fucker! I ask him the same question? I cannot believe the disrespect. Where was Bush 2Xs? Where was Clinton?
Where were you racist media bastards when kids in the city were being slaughtered in the streets by guns transported in their communities? Where were the Repubs this weekend on Meet The Press? Where is the NRA now?
Sorry for the ranting,Chip.
I hope he never ever give these clueless idiots an interview!

The PBO we just saw at the Press conference is PBO at his greatest. (Not to dis written speeches, he is Great at those , too)
The President fielding every question easily and truthfully. Sometimes eloquently “they need to Peel off the partisan war Paint”.

Do we agree that his answers should quiet the hysterics claiming the President is betraying his base? All I heard was the comforting ideas that revenue increases will come from those who can afford it best and spending cuts will not impact the neediest among us. In other words, exactly what he has been saying all along.

Jake is a Jackass. Nothing new there. And once again our President put another infantile stenographer in his place.

PEOPLE LIKE TAPPER ONLY SHOW THEIR TRUE CHARACTER W/ SUCH DISRESPECT FOR THE PRESIDENT…WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. OUR ‘ENERGIZER BUNNY’ PRESIDENT WAS AWESOME AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE BIG JOE WITH HIS BOXING GLOVES ON…FIRE IT UP JOE…………….INDEED HE WILL….NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. BTW…I LOVE THE WAY PBO ANSWERS RUDE REPORTERS…W/ ‘GRACE’…THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS!!!

If I may answer that question for you, Mr. President:
I was running the most successful campaign your dumbass has ever seen and winning. At the same time gave orders to have ABL killed so we could feel safe again in these United States. And if you missed this morning’s edition of Times magazine, I was voted “Man of the Year”

I think this clown these things because he knows this man is someone he will never ever grow up to be. What a pitiful soul.

Sue, you are right, “GRACE” is what was needed and the President handled it very well.
I think this Jack person does this to get a reaction from us……after this campaign, Sandy hurricane and the Innocent deaths in Newton, I lost it. This evil does not and will not let up. I need more grace.

Thank you, God for such a humble, kind, gentle President.
At the end of the day, he is still President of the United States. Jack what’s-his-face is still an infantile stenographer.

I just got off the phone with the assistant to Ms. Sprouls who is the political director for ABC news and Tapper’s boss. I told her he should be fired for what he just pulled at the presser. I urge everyone to do the same. Her phone number is 202-222-7200 or email her at meredith.nettles@abc.com. I am so pissed right now I can’t even see straight! We need to get this prick removed from covering this POTUS for the next 4 years. Take action NOW!

Thanks again for these wonderful photos and articles, Chips. I saw that Spiderman one on TPM and was in fits. He is so good with children and the children love him!.

My friend’s cousin was shot in the throat and paralyzed when he was a senior at Berkeley, in 1968. He’a a writer and chronicles his life with his disability. In yesterday’s Salon, he wrote about his upstairs neighbor, and the inheritance his neighbor left him…

“The only gun I’ve seen up close was the one that shot me. It was 1968, and I was a Berkeley senior walking home from the campus library. Three strangers approached. One slugged me in the mouth. Another pointed a shiny revolver at my neck and fired. Together they kicked my paralyzed body under a hedge. All three escaped forever.”

In other, happier news, I will be MIA for the next month or so, visiting my aging parents in India. Will try to check back with my TOD family whenever I can, but wanted to let you all know that you all have been a source of great strength in times of need and also in happy times. Chips, your dedication is a thing of beauty and joy. I wish each of you a wonderful holiday season. To those that celebrate Christmas, a very Merry one! Here’s to a wonderful 2013. I’ll “see” you all on the other side of the Mayan calendar!

I turned it off I couldn’t handle the press. The President was wonderful in explaning things but the press was more than I could take so I missed Tapper. I am glad but I do want to hear PBO’s reply. I know Chips will have the video up as soon as available.

I hope Martin Bashir and Rev. Al Bring up the fact that way of questioning PBO is not respectful and should not be allowed from the White House Press Corps.
Can people tweet Rev. Al, Lawrence, Rachel, etc.. about this??
Mrs. Greenspan brought that last question in introducing her show and I hope she will mention how impolite that way of talking to PBO is.
I know most people agree that that is SO DISRESPECTFUL of the office of POTUS.
What the Fudge does Jake Tapper thinks he is doing when he addresses PBO like that!!
What an A–hole!!

If Jake Tapper doesn’t know where pres Obama has been, don’t know his record, why is he a reporter? Hmmmmm? What is ABC paying him for? Hmmmm?

OK, now this same Jake Taper, who wrote and reported on then sen Obama’s visit to a Hampton University in VA, was this year…..pretending that Tucker Carlson and Drudge had some unearthing of some twisted nonsense that those two rightwingers were reinventing?

Jake Tapper is a rightwing nut. I question his seeded hatred towards this president.

I have called the number provided by a poster LB4Obama above and the lady says that for the complaints to get to the right person, we should email meredith.nettles@abc.com. As LB4Obama said above this prick should be removed from covering this POTUS for the next 4 years. Take action NOW!

Can the twitter warriors on TOD someone tweet the phone number 202-222-7200 and the email meredith.nettles@abc.com so a lot people can complain about this idiot to his bossess?